In conventional domestic electric toasters the bread or other item to be toasted is supported on a carriage. The carriage moves between a lower position where the bread is supported between the electrical elements of the toaster to toast it, and an upper position where the bread projects out through a slot in the top of the toaster. The carriage is moved to the lower, toasting position against the action of a spring where it causes the electrical elements to be turned on and is held against upward movement by a controlled latching mechanism. When the toasting operation is finished the carriage is released by the latching mechanism and moves to the upper position under the action of a spring.
A drawback of such electric toasters is that they are generally designed for bread of a particular height and the carriage is arranged so that the slice of toasted bread extends a short way out of the slot when the carriage is in its upper position. When toasting smaller items such as English muffins, rolls or small pieces of bread, the smaller item does not extend out through the slot in the top of the toaster. To retrieve the muffin etc. from the toaster it is necessary to turn the toaster upside down, or use a knife etc. to extract it or poke one's fingers into the slot. All these operations are fraught with danger for the user.
According to the invention there is provided an electric toaster having a generally closed housing with an elongate top opening for insertion of an item to be toasted; a vertically movable elongate carriage in the housing for supporting the item in three discrete operative positions corresponding to a lowermost toasting position, a first toast-removal position and a second toast-removal position higher than said first position, a vertical slot in the housing; a carriage support bracket fixed at one end of the carriage slidably mounted on vertical rails, having an operating arm extending through the vertical slot and first inter-engaging means fixed on the bracket; a second bracket slidably mounted on the rails and vertically movable relative to the carriage support bracket, having a latching arm for cooperating with a hold-down latch and second fixed inter-engaging means fixed to the second bracket; a spring to bias the second bracket upwards towards an uppermost position of the second bracket corresponding to the first toast-removal position, in which the first and second interengaging means abut one another to move the support bracket and second bracket simultaneously when the operating arm is moved downwards towards the toasting position to cause the latching arm to engage the hold-down latch, and abut one another when the second bracket is released by the hold-down latch and is moved upwards by the spring to its uppermost position, and in which the support bracket is free to move upwards relative to the second bracket when the arm is moved to raise the support bracket from the first toast-removal position to the second toast removal position.
The electric toaster may include an electric switch operating arm fixed to the second bracket to close the switch whenever the hold-down latch holds down the latching arm.
The first interengaging means may comprise a projection on the support bracket and the second interengaging means comprise a ledge on the second bracket.
The support bracket may be integrally formed with the operating arm by pressing and folding from sheet metal having apertures which fit over the rails.
The second bracket may be integrally formed with the latching arm by pressing and folding from sheet metal with apertures which fit over the rails.
The invention will be further described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.